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Doug Rush lamented that the rent for his 78-year-old mother's government-subsidized senior housing was going up, and he blamed the rich "Mitt Romneys of the world" for not paying enough taxes ("Romneys of the world," Forum, Dec. 26).

At what point did Romney, or anyone else, gain responsibility to care for someone else's aging parent? As I understand it, the order of responsibility is family, church, community, then the state as a last resort. Social programs are designed around this outline, and they run out of money if it is not respected.

Rather than expressing gratitude for the years of assistance already received, Rush bitterly jumps past the state, all the way to the world's wealthy as owing his family some continued fiscal assistance. Let the families of the rich  Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, George Soros, et al.  tend to their own. They don't owe us a dime.